Thirty-four miners were killed and 78 were wounded when police opened fire on them while trying to disperse protesters near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana on August 16.

According to some reports since the event, several miners were shot dead among rocks some distance away from where police clashed with the main group of striking workers.

The commission heading up the inquiry, led by retired judge Ian Farlam, postponed its work on Wednesday afternoon.

The first few days were dramatic and included an in loco inspection of the area where the miners were shot and high profile figures like human rights lawyer George Bizos visited the site.

The commissioners also inspected mine hostels, formal mine housing, local informal settlements and the hospital where wounded miners were taken after the shooting.

Every Friday the Mail & Guardian hosts a live video chat on our website on the major news topic of the week. This week we chat to M&G reporters Niren Tolsi and Kwanele Sosibo.
Tolsi has been following the commmission closely while Sosibo has been reporting on communities in the Marikana area before the shootings and after the stand-off.

M&G online deputy editor Verashni Pillay will pose your questions and comments to our reporters during the chat. We will also take your tweets in real time sent to @verashni. You can watch the video on this link when it begins at noon on Friday, October 5 2012, and the recorded version afterwards.